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Thanks to board member LOU, I finally got my first Mattel Retro Action figure and I wanted my first to be Batman. I've had him a week today (I've been super busy). So here's what I've discovered and my comments, good and bad.
Within seconds of pulling him off the card the chest emblem fell off. Literally seconds. Not a good sign.
After some VERY light play, and I mean some minor posing and removing the mask, the outfit starting "pilling" or running on the arms, legs and torso.
The top part of the body is excellent. Arms are tight and hold a pose well. The bottom half is just poorly designed. The waist should have a ball and socket joint like a Mego. A TRUE ball and socket. The odd shape and the poorly strung elastic make his legs wobble. If they'd done the legs the same as the arms, there wouldn't be a problem. Megos work because of 2 things: The ball/socket joint AND the elastics crossing to the opposing arms. The elastic in the Mattel figure goes straight up and is loose. It will NEVER work. The tension is wrong. The figure flops over constantly. If I were a kid playing with Superman, I'd be mighty ticked off trying to make him "fly" with his legs bent down like he's sitting.
The sculpt of the top half of the body is great. The legs are a mess. The bow legged thing looks just terrible. They need to decrease the angle of the shin. It looks silly.
The mask is brilliant. I love it. It's probably the best removable mask I've ever played with. The only things I would do different is add a bit more to the bottom part under the chin so the mask came down to the chest. I put it on a Mego RC Bats and it fit lower to the chest and looks a lot better. I'd also paint a black stripe down the nose like the picture shows. I plan on doing this to mine.
I love the elastic on the cape. This was a great idea. It's frayed a bit already so stitching it would've been a good move.
The boots are a touck bulky but I can live with it. They remind me a lot of the FC figures' boots.
The belt is obviously an exact replica of the Mego belt. I love the soft material. A few more canisters around the sides would've been nice but that's just my opinion.
The glove cuffs are a good idea in one way, they won't get lost. However, the material looks bad. The white showing all around the perimiter looks terrible. They're every bit as goofy looking as the Mego oven mitts IMO. The white plus the oversized fins...
So overall, a great figure that I welcome in to my collection but the body is in desperate need of work on the lower half. Certainly not worth the $20.00 retail price especially if I want to get these for my boys. My oldest loves the mask and so on but the body and the sticker falling off really bugged him. I can buy much better made toys for $20.00 for my kids. I don't mind paying what I did because I wanted the figure, faults and all but Mattel needs to get on the ball with the lower half of the figure to justify the price if they want parents to buy these for their kids.
Will I get more? Probably. I already want another Batman and some Bat Family to hang with him will be on my list. Robin and a Batgirl with a TRUE removable mask for sure.
That's my take. It has issues for sure but it's certainly fun!
Within seconds of pulling him off the card the chest emblem fell off. Literally seconds. Not a good sign.
After some VERY light play, and I mean some minor posing and removing the mask, the outfit starting "pilling" or running on the arms, legs and torso.
The top part of the body is excellent. Arms are tight and hold a pose well. The bottom half is just poorly designed. The waist should have a ball and socket joint like a Mego. A TRUE ball and socket. The odd shape and the poorly strung elastic make his legs wobble. If they'd done the legs the same as the arms, there wouldn't be a problem. Megos work because of 2 things: The ball/socket joint AND the elastics crossing to the opposing arms. The elastic in the Mattel figure goes straight up and is loose. It will NEVER work. The tension is wrong. The figure flops over constantly. If I were a kid playing with Superman, I'd be mighty ticked off trying to make him "fly" with his legs bent down like he's sitting.
The sculpt of the top half of the body is great. The legs are a mess. The bow legged thing looks just terrible. They need to decrease the angle of the shin. It looks silly.
The mask is brilliant. I love it. It's probably the best removable mask I've ever played with. The only things I would do different is add a bit more to the bottom part under the chin so the mask came down to the chest. I put it on a Mego RC Bats and it fit lower to the chest and looks a lot better. I'd also paint a black stripe down the nose like the picture shows. I plan on doing this to mine.
I love the elastic on the cape. This was a great idea. It's frayed a bit already so stitching it would've been a good move.
The boots are a touck bulky but I can live with it. They remind me a lot of the FC figures' boots.
The belt is obviously an exact replica of the Mego belt. I love the soft material. A few more canisters around the sides would've been nice but that's just my opinion.
The glove cuffs are a good idea in one way, they won't get lost. However, the material looks bad. The white showing all around the perimiter looks terrible. They're every bit as goofy looking as the Mego oven mitts IMO. The white plus the oversized fins...
So overall, a great figure that I welcome in to my collection but the body is in desperate need of work on the lower half. Certainly not worth the $20.00 retail price especially if I want to get these for my boys. My oldest loves the mask and so on but the body and the sticker falling off really bugged him. I can buy much better made toys for $20.00 for my kids. I don't mind paying what I did because I wanted the figure, faults and all but Mattel needs to get on the ball with the lower half of the figure to justify the price if they want parents to buy these for their kids.
Will I get more? Probably. I already want another Batman and some Bat Family to hang with him will be on my list. Robin and a Batgirl with a TRUE removable mask for sure.
That's my take. It has issues for sure but it's certainly fun!
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